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Paterno to O’Brien to Franklin: Is history on Franklin’s side?

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(John Baranowski is a new contributor to The Nittany Turkey. Please enjoy his article and comment on it with no holds barred, as you would with me! —TNT)

There is an axiom in sports that it is better to be the coach who follows the coach that followed a coaching legend rather than the coach who followed the coaching legend. I would venture to guess that Bill O’Brien and Lane Kiffin would concur with that notion.

There was no doubt that whoever followed Joe Paterno as Penn State head coach at Penn State would certainly have big shoes to fill. O’Brien went 15-9 in two seasons and bolted for the NFL. Kiffin at USC had a 28-15 record following Pete Carroll’s record of 97-19. Kiffin’s .651 winning percentage wasn’t enough to keep him from being fired not after losing nearly as many games in less than four years than Carroll did in nine. Beginning this season, Penn State’s new head coach James Franklin and Steve Sarkisian at USC will have the opportunity to test that coaching axiom. But how true is it really?

Looking at examples that support the axiom, in 1931, Hunk Anderson had the unenviable task of following Knute Rockne as head coach at Notre Dame. Anderson’s 16-9-2 record with a winning percentage of .630 at many schools would be welcome but not following Rockne’s coaching record of 105-12-5. In three seasons, Anderson lost nearly as many games as Rockne did in 13. Rockne’s winning percentage of .881 just happens to rank first among Division I coaches all-time. Good luck following that. Elmer Layden, the coach who took over after Anderson, had a 47-13-3 record. This was more to Irish fans’ liking.

At the University of Florida during the ‘90s, the Fun ‘N Gun offense was in full force as Steve Spurrier won 122 games in 12 seasons and racked up a winning percentage of .817. His successor, Ron Zook, lasted only three seasons going 23-14 and that set the stage for Urban Meyer. Meyer in six seasons as Florida’s head coach won 65 games and two national championships and had a winning percentage of .813.

The situation at the University of Alabama was slightly different. One can say that the shadow cast by Bear Bryant affected the next two men that succeeded him or at the very least set a near impossible standard to follow. In 25 seasons, Bryant won 232 games with a winning percentage of .824. Ray Perkins could relate to Anderson at Notre Dame as Perkins lasted only four seasons as his teams compiled a 32-15-1 record for a .677 winning percentage. That is not nearly good enough at Alabama, particularly after following the Bear.

Bill Curry followed Perkins and even with a 26-10 record and a .722 winning percentage, Curry lasted only three seasons. Gene Stallings followed Curry and despite having a slightly lesser winning percentage than Curry, .713 to .722, Stallings lasted seven seasons, no doubt aided by winning a national championship in 1992.

At Michigan, it was an interesting situation as well. Following Lloyd Carr proved to be more difficult than following Bo Schembechler. Schembechler paced the sidelines in Ann Arbor for 21 years and amassed a 194-48-5 record for a winning percentage of .796.

Following Schembechler was not going to be easy. Gary Moeller did so for five seasons, winning three conference titles, and had a winning percentage of .758. Moeller resigned in May of 1995 and the head coaching job now belonged to Carr. Carr won five conference titles in 13 seasons and a national championship in 1997, Michigan’s first since 1948. Carr’s head coaching record was 122-40 for a .753 winning percentage.

Rich Rodriquez, “a non-Michigan man” succeeded Carr. Rodriquez brought a radically different offensive mindset to Ann Arbor and some might say a non-defensive mindset as well. After three seasons and a 15-22 record, Rodriquez was replaced.

There are numerous examples where a coaching legend’s successor did well but the following coach did not.

Perhaps a long-time successful coach creates such a well-oiled machine that it helps facilitate success for his immediate successor but by the time the next head coach comes along, significant fall-off begins.

John McKay at USC compiled a 127-40-8 record for a winning percentage of .749. One would think trying to match McKay’s winning percentage would have been very difficult. However, John Robinson nearly did just that succeeding McKay. Robinson’s record was 104-35-4 for a winning percentage of .741.

The fall-off at USC came following Robinson under Ted Tollner. Tollner, in four seasons from 1983 to 1986, went 26-20-1 for a winning percentage of .564. That is not going to cut it at USC.

Another example was at the University of Texas where Darrell Royal became a coaching legend winning 167 games losing 47 with five ties for a winning percentage of .774 over 20 seasons. His successor, Fred Akers, was 86-31-2 for a .731 winning rate over the next 10 seasons.

The fall-off in Austin came following Akers. David McWilliams managed only a 31-26 record over the next five seasons for a .544 winning percentage.

Meanwhile in Norman, Oklahoma, Chuck Fairbanks won 77% of his games compiling a 52-15-1 record. His successor, Barry Switzer, took that to an even higher level winning nearly 84% of his games with a record of 157-29-4. Switzer’s successor, Gary Gibbs, managed only 44 wins over the next six seasons going 44-23-2 from 1989-1994.

At Notre Dame, Ara Parseghian’s .836 winning percentage from 1964-1974 was followed by Dan Devine who produced a .764 winning percentage. Following Devine, who was under a hot seat following Parseghian until he won a national championship in 1977, proved too much for Gerry Faust. Faust’s 30-26-1 record just was not good enough for Notre Dame.

Then enters Lou Holtz, the last head coach to lead the Fighting Irish national championship in 1988, and his coaching record at Notre Dame was 100-30-2.

Succeeding Holtz was Bob Davie and then Ty Willingham, and each had an identical .583 winning percentage in their short tenures as Notre Dame’s head coach.

Tom Osborne roamed the sidelines as Nebraska’s head coach for 25 years, compiling a 255-49-3 record and a winning percentage of .836. Following the legendary Osborne would not be easy.

Keep in mind that Osborne followed Bob Devaney who won national titles in 1970 and 1971 and had a 101-20-2 record in 11 seasons and a winning percentage of .829.

Osborne was succeeded by Frank Solich in 1998 and in six seasons Solich won 58 games losing only 19 for a .753 winning percentage and was fired by then Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Pederson hired Bill Callahan and over the next four years, Nebraska went 27-22-0, which definitely did not sit well with Husker fans.

So perhaps more importantly than simply being the coach who follows the coach that replaced a coaching legend, it is more important to have the right coach for the job. Nittany Lion and Trojan fans hope and believe they do.

 

John Baranowski is a Sports Historian and contributor to newspapers, sports publications and sports websites. 

It’s Official!

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Finally, the formal announcement about Bill O’Brien‘s accession to the throne vacated by the ouster of King Joseph V occurred at an 11:30 am press conference. The king is dead. Long live the king! I dub thee King William I, ruler of all that is good in the Penn State football domain. Long live King William!

(I know, I know. It wasn’t as good as the Pope metaphor, but what do you want on a lazy Saturday?)

After a brief introduction by President Rod Erickson and interim athletic director Dave Joyner, O’Brien began his prepared speech. Clearly, it was not a polished, sanitized, memorized address. It was more like some bullet points scratched out and filled in with sincerity by the new coach. His speaking style is fairly casual, not completely grammatically sound, and occasionally laced with cliches such as “I can’t say enough about…”, “No words can express…”, or “I have to say…” O’Brien’s first order of business was giving thanks to those who had anything to do with getting this job, including his wife, to whom he referred as his “Chief of Staff”. Later, he supported his recruiting ability with another wife reference, that she was magna cum laude as a law student at Boston University, so he surely knows how to recruit.

The speech went pretty much as anyone would have expected, with the exception of one surprise: O’Brien said he talked to Larry Johnson last night at length and invited him to join the new coaching staff, which LJ accepted. As far as anyone knows now, he’ll be the defensive line coach. This was a good move for several reasons. First of all, I asked for it. I asked for Vanderlinden, too, but I suppose if one existing assistant coach were to be a priority to gather into the fold, it would be Johnson. This doesn’t necessarily preclude O’Brien from hiring other current members of the coaching staff, with whom he plans on talking today, but that he sought out Johnson and no one else says a lot. I’m sure many others would have wanted to keep Johnson, who has proven his competence through the years. Second, O’Brien is an offensive guy, so his defensive staff could use someone familiar with the existing players and sets. The play of the defensive line is the least questionable aspect of the defense, so it is a natural that its coach be the continuity guy. Third, it makes a lot of fans who were questioning O’Brien’s hire and fearing the loss of all that was familiar to them feel much more comfortable with the new regime. Finally, Larry is 60, so this will probably be his last job. Unlike Paterno, he’ll get to retire with no blemishes on his record.

As for the rest of O’Brien’s staff, he stated that he would be putting it together over the next two to three days. This, along with studying for the NCAA exam, passage through which is required before he can go on the recruiting trail, will fill the time that would otherwise be used for optional sleep.

Adding a little self-deprecating humor was a good idea. Pointing to his balding head, O’Brien said that he knows he looks like he’s 50, but he’s only 42.

He has committed to the New England Patriots that he will coach the offense through the playoff run and to the Super Bowl, if they get there. He supported this by stating that he had told the assembled current players that he talked to last night that he couldn’t stand in front of them and preach loyalty if he just walked off when the Pats needed him. ???? ??????? ?????????

O’Brien’s initial compensation package, including external contributions (yeah, you got it — Nike, radio, TV), will be $2.3 million per year for five years. The base salary is $950,000 with a provision for a five per cent raise each year, as well as performance incentives not to exceed $200,000. That’s a pretty reasonable package, considering that other Big Ten coaches are getting considerably more money. If this was the money offer all along, one has to wonder how many other candidates were not interested once they were given the salary specs.

After the canned part of the presser, O’Brien fielded questions from the audience, which included all the names you would expect to have received press credentials for the event. ????? ??? ?? ?????? O’Brien handled it well, providing sincere, informative responses to most of the questions posed. The one exception referred to who contacted whom originally about the Penn State job; O’Brien said that he didn’t want to get into that. (That led this Turkey to wonder whether Pat Forde’s speculation about Ron Jaworski’s and Ira Lubert’s involvement beyond merely being a member of the search committee was less fiction than fact. Call it the Jaws Controversy.)

Meanwhile, the old guard was preparing its goodbyes. Joe Paterno wished O’Brien luck and paid homage to their joint alma mater. Tom Bradley issued a statement as well, although through a public relations firm, he said that the statement should not be construed as a resignation.

By 2 pm, some of the former resistance to O’Brien’s hire seemed to be yielding to guarded expressions of good wishes for a successful tenure, at least as far as Tweeps I monitor are concerned. One exception I’ll note was former Penn State quarterback and current Seattle Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson, who fears that O’Brien is an NFL guy who is using Penn State to get some head coaching experience on the way to a much desired NFL job. Here are a couple of Robinson’s tweets:

Michael Robinson: Just MY opinion but I think the trustees blew the chance of getting Urban Meyer by how they handled Joe. Meyer is a “college” guy. ???? ?????

Michael Robinson: What recruit would come to a school that let the media mob dictate the direction of our university. Stand for nothing and fall for anything

Michael Robinson: Sorry twitter I have some strong feelings about this that I will release via [The Real Robinson Report] soon. I understand our alums frustration

Having seen these tweets, former Nittany Lion starting center A.Q. Shipley tried to calm Robinson down a bit:

AQ Shipley: @RealMikeRob you have a lot of very valid questions my man! He seemed impressive and im excited to meet him and see what hes about also!

I haven’t seen anything recent from LaVar Arrington, who was the most vociferous of the anti-O’Brien squad. Nor have I heard lately from D.J. Dozier or Brandon Short, who as representatives of the Lettermen’s Club, threatened to sue Penn State over the use of their names in connection with marketing or recruitment, although it was reported that Dozier softened a bit later when he saw how Tom Brady spoke of O’Brien as a coach: “I don’t know much about O’Brien — when you read quotes like the one from Tom Brady about what kind of coach he is, that’s a pretty strong endorsement from one of the best quarterbacks in football, or the best quarterback in football”. Back to Threat City, one of the potential sanctions proposed by the lettermen, who were accompanied to the meeting by Tom Bradley’s attorney, was to cajole current players to transfer and current recruits to decommit. This is really dirty pool. Who did they want the committee to hire? Joe Paterno?

Arguably one of Penn State’s most successful pros, quarterback Kerry Collins urged peace on earth and goodwill toward new head coaches:

“Much is being said about the hiring of Bill O’Brien as the next football coach at Penn State. I do not know him. I have never met him nor been coached by him. One thing I do know is that I will support him and I call on all Penn State football lettermen to do the same. Whether you agree or disagree with his hiring, we should support him. Instead of chastising him for not being a Penn Stater, let’s show him what it means to be a Penn Stater. Coach O’Brien is faced with the daunting task of resurrecting our beloved, yet bruised program. Let’s support him in any way we can.”

Congratulations to Kerry Collins for being a man, not a whiner. I have to join his camp on this one. The Lettermen’s Club flexing its purported muscles should be condemned for its subversion.

The current players seem to be less troubled by the whole thing, although — who knows? — there might be a couple of transfers due to disgruntlement disguised as no-likee-coachee. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Bolden decided to bolt. On the other hand, Matt McGloin issued the following statement:

“I am excited about the hiring and some of the players I have spoken with are excited as well. I am anxious to get spring ball started and am ready for a fresh start. I think Coach O’Brien will lead us in the right direction and am looking forward to working with someone who has a lot of experience with quarterbacks. I think it is a great hire and a great thing for Penn State football.”

At this point, it’s a done deal, so we don’t have to agree with it, but it would be needless frustration to oppose it at this point. Although I was on board with O’Brien before he was hired, and hoped that he would be the guy who got hired, many of you will take more convincing. At this point, now that he is a Penn Stater, his actions will speak louder than our conjectures. I hope that you will have the patience to ride with this decision and give O’Brien your support while you’re making your mind up about him.

Finally, a Head Coach!

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White smoke has finally spewed from the chimney at Old Main, the alabaster effluvia signifying an end to the deliberations over who will be the next head football coach, the successor to the sainted Pope Joseph V. Habemus papam!

The new leader of Penn State’s vaunted football program is Bill O’Brien, age 42, presently offensive coordinator for the NFL New England Patriots.

This Turkey felt that O’Brien was the best guy for the job of all the names that had been bandied about during the lengthy search, with the possible exception of Nick Saban, who turned out to be a pipe dream by a deranged fan. Although I didn’t think much of the way the search for the new  head coach was dragged out, I am completely happy with the result. The reasons for the search committee moving so slowly will be known sooner or later, but all that is moot now that we do indeed have a coach.

I have supported Bill O’Brien since his name first surfaced; as I stated in earlier columns, I liked his college coaching experience, his youth, and his passion for the job and the game. I hope that all the whining, moaning, bitching, and crying I have been seeing on Twitter will soon end and that we can all settle down to support Coach O’Brien as he moves the program forward.

“Without change, there cannot be progress — and change for this Penn State football program has been a long time in coming. Embrace it!”

Inasmuch as the New England Patriots are expected to play their way deeply into the NFL playoffs, which begin this weekend, I would bet that one of the stumbling blocks was O’Brien’s ability to make a graceful exit. Dave Joyner, acting PSU athletic director, has stated that he wants the new coach on board by January 13, when recruiting restarts. The Patriots might have wanted O’Brien to stay through the playoffs and, potentially, the Super Bowl. It will be interesting to determine what the negotiations involved.

Perhaps we’ll know on Saturday, when the official announcement is made. It was obviously impossible, though, to keep a lid on the news once the decision was made, noting that less than two hours before Chris Mortensen of ESPN told the world in no uncertain terms that O’Brien would be the new Papa Lion, Dave Joyner equivocated in a radio interview conducted at halftime of the Purdue vs Penn State basketball game. He stated the target date, but gave no indication that anyone was even close to being hired. Around 10 pm on Thursday night, the lid finally blew off the kettle.

I suspect that O’Brien isn’t presently getting much love from the Penn State Tweeps because he’s an outsider, a new face, a foreign entity. Many of them are unfairly denigrating his qualifications, if not his temperament. I think that underlying all that noise is a love for Joe Paterno and frustration over Tom Bradley not getting the job that these loyal fans feel he deserves. They’re not thinking with their brains; they’re thinking with their hearts. It is good that the search committee headed by “Bones” Joyner was reviewing the qualifications of the candidates and interviewing them instead of the aforementioned sentimentalist Tweeps. As I’ve mentioned many times over, ad nauseam, Penn State needed to clean house for several reasons, and some of them are related to the staid Paterno system that is all Tom Bradley has experienced in his time at Penn State. One doesn’t stay with a management job for that length of time while radically disagreeing with the operating philosophy. No, folks, we need someone who can lead this program far into the Twenty-first Century, not someone tied to the past.

With both college and professional experience under his belt, the youthful O’Brien is potentially that man. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to keep Ron Vanderlinden and Larry Johnson. Everybody else presently on the staff — except Spider Caldwell — should be given his walking papers. Dick Anderson and Galen Hall will surely retire, while Jay Paterno will be doing whatever he decides to do somewhere besides at Penn State. Tom Bradley has been mentioned in connection with the Akron football program, which would seem to make sense for him in that it is close to Western Pennsylvania.

O’Brien will grow into the job. Some impatient fans will expect things to happen overnight, but it doesn’t work that way. Oh, I expect that by Year Two, some “Fire O’Brien!” websites will pop up, just because fans are impatient. The University will give him a longer leash than that, fortunately for him and for the rest of us. The screwed-up 2012 recruiting class did not happen on his watch, and he’s sure as hell not responsible for the supposed Sandusky shady shower sex situation.

Thank heavens that those who O’Brien will actually report to will not be looking for instant results. Remember, everyone’s got to start somewhere. Joe Paterno did not know shit from Shinola when he decided to eschew law school in favor of becoming Rip Engle’s assistant at Penn State. Once he took over the top job, he made his share of mistakes, for which an earlier generation of impatient fans (myself included) held him responsible, some calling for his head on a platter. However, he did grow into the job as we all well know, and in his forced retirement he is generally revered as an elder statesman.

Without change, there cannot be progress — and change for this Penn State football program has been a long time in coming. Embrace it. You have no choice.

Some good fans have complained to me about O’Brien’s fiery behavior on the sidelines. Why? Don’t you think the Nittany Lions, as flat as they’ve looked for the past few years, could use a little passion? Old Joe had been incapable of generating much enthusiasm in the last decade or so, and Tom “Scrap” Bradley is a laid back nice guy. In the words of the late, intense Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, “Nice guys don’t win ball games.” While O’Brien is a somewhat more risky hire than Bradley, his upside potential is significantly greater. Anyone who thought Bradley would change his demeanor and change the system on the field from what he has been comfortable with for so many years is kidding himself.

O’Brien does indeed yell at players. He even yells at the Great Bill Belichick. So, what? Paterno yelled when he felt like yelling, too. O’Brien doesn’t throw tantrums because he wants attention. He gets angry and motivates players. Most of you have witnessed this with the Patriots, as I have, and perhaps you, too, have seen the positive results.

You don’t have to “like” the guy. Most of you didn’t like Bob Knight, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier, or their antics. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t coach.

Another of the naysayers’ outcries is that Tom Brady is so good that he doesn’t need to be coached; therefore, coordinating such a wonderful, prolific offense as that of the Patriots is a job any idiot could do. Besides, we all know that Belichick calls the shots there, right? Sorry, Mr. Rationalizer. Until you’ve attended Patriot team meetings and can report that crap factually instead of pulling it straight out of your ass, you will not convince many people. I’ve seen O’Brien yell at Brady one-on-one on the sideline and I’ve seen Brady respond positively on the field. I’ve also seen O’Brien go at it with Bellicheck. This is a man’s man who will look anyone in the eye and tell them what he thinks. Would you rather have a brooding, insecure pussy running the program?

How do I sum this up, other than to say that I think Joyner’s committee made the right choice? I suppose that I’ll once again cajole you to please give Bill O’Brien a chance. You can go on bitching if it makes you feel good, but eventually, no one will be paying any attention to you. No one knows how this hire will eventually turn out, and we won’t have a clue for at least a couple of years. So, save yourself the heartburn and if you can’t bring yourself to support the guy, at least stop putting him down just because you think you know better than those who hired him. I’m behind O’Brien and I’m looking forward with bated anticipation to the changes he’ll implement to finally get this program moving forward.